An interim factfinding report on the allision of the' Maersk Shekou' at Fremantle on Aug 22, 2024, which was published on April 17, 2025, suggested that the vessel's helmsman and pilots were operating with different goals. The helmsman was actively steering to maintain a heading of 083 degrees, his last received helm order. Meanwhile, the pilots were trying to make an emergency turn to port, using full ahead thrust, assist tugs, bow thrusters and the port anchor, They unaware that their helmsman was applying starboard rudder to counteract them. Early on Aug 22, the 'Maersk ShekouÄ began heading inbound into Fremantle's harbour and took aboard two pilots. The primary pilot assigned for the transit was fatigued, so the backup pilot took charge during the master/pilot exchange. At about 06.10 a.m., as they entered the narrow entrance channel for the inner port, southwesterly winds picked up to about 40 knots on the starboard quarter. The ship began to swing to starboard. The pilot ordered the helmsman to steer 083; the helmsman correctly acknowledged the order at about 0613:45 a.m. This was the heading that the helmsman would try to maintain throughout the final minutes of the casualty sequence. At the time that the order was given, the helmsman had the rudder hard to port to counteract the effects of the strengthening wind. It wasn't enough to do the job, and the 'Maersk Shekou's heading was about four degrees off to starboard (087). The master suggested going to full ahead to increase steering forces, and at about 0614:34 a.m. the pilot agreed. There was a pier ahead, and they needed to turn to port fast in order to enter the harbor. With more power and a series of assist tug movements, the 'Maersk Shekou' began to swing back to port. As it swung back from 087 through 086, the helmsman moved to check the swing: he brought the helm to midships, then briefly to 33 degrees starboard. The vessel steadied up squarely on 083, the last ordered heading he had received, which was straight towards the pier. The pilot was unsure why the vessel had stopped swinging to port, and at 615:33 a.m. he told the secondary pilot that something was wrong. The secondary pilot had been on a phone conversation at the back of the bridge and had not been involved in the back-and-forth among the bridge team, but he interrupted the call and joined the decisionmaking process. Together, without checking in with the helmsman, they began working the assist tugs to try to turn Maersk Shekou to port. The rudder was amidships at this point, and the helmsman was maintaining a steady heading of 083.5 towards the moored tall ship 'Leeuwin II', now less than a ship length away, with the boxship full ahead and making seven knots. At 0615:54 a.m., the master put the bow thrusters full to port. At 0616:10 a.m., the secondary pilot ordered stop engines, then full astern, and the master ordered the crew to prepare to drop the port anchor. Beginning at 0616:21 a.m., as these emergency measures to turn to port were under way, the helmsman applied more starboard rudder to try to counteract the effort to turn to port. The rudder would be over to starboard as much as 29 degrees over the course of the next minute. At 0616:49 a.m., the engines reached full astern and the 'Maersk Shekou' began to slow. The anchor, tugs and bow thruster managed to start a swing to port, but not fast enough to avert an allision. At about 0618 a.m., the 'Maersk Shekou' hit the 'Leeuwin II' at about three knots. The 'Maersk Shekou' came to a full stop by about 0618:30 a.m., but continued to spin in place. The bow thrusters were still on full to port, and the ship was swinging to port at about 13 degrees per minute. At 0619:52 a.m., the master noted to the pilots that the bow thrusters were still running with full power to port, and the thrusters were shut down,but not quickly enough to prevent contact in the narrow confines of the harbour. 40 seconds later, a stack of containers on the 'Maersk Shekou's starboard quarter hit the roof of the Western Australia Maritime Museum. The ship's hull scraped along the wharf for a short distance, damaging the quayside and breaching a small section of the hull plating above the waterline. The ATSB continues its investigation and will release its full report, including its formal conclusions, when it has completed its review. Interim report: https://www.atsb.gov.au/sites/default/files/2025-04/MO-2024-001%20Interim%20report.pdf
News
CG MUSTANG
The US Coast Guard has decommissioned the 'Mustang (WPB 1310)' during a ceremony in Seward on April 15, 2025. Capt. Christopher Culpepper, the commander of Coast Guard Sector Western Alaska & U.S. Arctic, presided over the ceremony honoring the nearly 40 years of service of the 'Mustang' and its crews. Commissioned on Aug 29, 1986, the 'Mustang' was the 10th Island-Class cutter to join the fleet. She has been stationed in Seward since it was commissioned, and its crews have since responded to over 200 SAR cases and completed over 2000 law enforcement sorties. The Coast Guard is replacing the aging Island-Class patrol boats with Sentinel-Class Fast Response Cutters (FRCs) which feature enhanced capability to meet service needs. There are currently four FRC's homeported in Alaska, with two more scheduled for delivery in the near future. Report with photo: https://www.news.uscg.mil/Press-Releases/Article/4154295/coast-guard-cutter-mustang-decommissioned-after-nearly-40-years-of-service/
Holyhead
Following the allision of the 'Ulöysses', where part of the pier collapsed, the port will remain closed until at least Dec 20. Irish Ferries has redeployed the “James Joyce” to the Rosslare - Pembroke route whilst the “Ulysses” has deviated from the Holyhead route for the first time in history. On Dec 12 the ferry left Dublin on the 4 p.m. service to Cherbourg in place of the“WB Yeats” Meanwhile, the Stena Line have sent the ‘Stena Adventurer' to Fishguard and the ‘Stena Estrid' to Birkenhead.
Holyhead
Ferry services have been cancelled between Holyhead and Dublin following the storm Darragh. The Irish Ferries and Stena Line websites were showing major disruption to services on Dec 9, 2024, and Dec 10. The Irish Ferries website showed all services were cancelled due to infrastructure weather damage in Holyhead. Although the Holyhead to Dublin service by the 'James Joyce' on Dec 10 at 8.15 .p.m was scheduled to run. Stena Line is also showing the 'Stena Estrid' was set to sail from Holyhead at 8.30 p.m. The incident with the 'Ulysses', which had an allision on Dec 7, has caused damage to port infrastructure. As a result, Holyhead Port has been closed to marine traffic and, at this time, it was expected that the port will remain closed until Dec 10 at 6 p.m. at the earliest, while a thorough assessment was conducted.
FRISIA E-I
On April 16, 2025, at around 11:34 a.m, the ''Frisia E 1' was in collision another island ferry in the Norddeich ferry port (Aurich district) while casting off. The accident caused a hole approximately 30 x 30 centimetres on the port side above the waterline. No one was injured, and no environmental damage was caused. The further investigations were being carried out by the Water Police Emden The ferry has not been operational since the accident. The damage is currently being repaire in the port. The ferry may be able to resume operations before Easter.
ANACONDA
On April 16, 2025, at 1.15 a.m. the 'Anaconda', sailing on the Rhine en route from Frankfurt upon the Main to the Hanau Oil Tankking, was in collision with another tank barge near the Loreley at St. Goarshausen, loaded with 1400 tons gasoline, with an unloaded tank barge. After the ships hit sideways, the tanker got stuck on the right river embankment at river kilometre 553,600. There was a small water ingress, but the crew was able to patch the leak. The other ship could continue its voyage as it had remained undamaged, before the Rhine was barred for ship traffic between Bingen and St. Goar. The tanker could be refloated at 9.30 a.m. by the inland container ship 'Belicha' (MMSI: 244660037), en route from Antwerp to Ludwigshafen, and berthed in Bendorf, where it remained stationary as of April 17. The river was released for ship traffic after the successful salvage. Reports with photos: https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/rheinland-pfalz/koblenz/schiffsunfall-st-goarshausen-rhein-schifffahrt-gesperrt-100.html https://www.schuttevaer.nl/nieuws/actueel/2025/04/16/tanker-op-de-rijn-vaart-in-oever-na-aanvaring/
Holyhead
On Dec 12 the divers were still carrying out their inspections on the berth at Holyhead with all the steel columns being checked for any damages under the waterline. Stena was still deeming this an ongoing technical issue- Once the inspections have been finished a decision is made by the relevant teams regarding the chance that the T5 berth can begin operating again and Holyhead Por can once again resume operations.
Tuapse
Smoke has been observed at the port of Tuapse after explosions were reported overnight on Nov 29, 2024. Reports suggested that a large Russian landing ship may have been damaged. Smoke was rising from one of the berths, which is equipped with cranes for loading civilian vessels. Satellite images from SentinelHub on Nov 20 revealed a 135-meter-long vessel docked there, potentially a large landing ship, matching the class of Russian warships known as Project 11711 Ivan Gren. Currently, there is only one such ship in the Black Sea, the 'Pyotr Morgunov' from Russia's Northern Fleet.
EVENTIN
On April 17 at 7.30 a.m. UTC the 'Eventin' weighed anchor and was taken in tow by the tug 'Fairplay 83' (IMO: 9883637), and the 'Fairplay XVII' (IMO: 9808247), which both had been deployed from Swinoujscie, serving as steering tug, and shifted to the dangerous goods anchorage off Mukran. The convoy was escorted by the police launch 'Stoltera' (MMSI:211222830) during this manoever.
ALPHENAAR
On April 14, 2025, at 5.40 p.m. the 'ALphenaar', enroute from Rotterdam to Moerdijk with a cargo of containers, allided with the Algera Bridge, linking Krimpenerwaard and Capelleupon the IJssel, in Krimpen upon the IJssel. The damage was limited. One container on deck was dented, and the bridge construction suffered paint damage. The ship was able to moor again unassisted. The police have investigated and recorded a statement from the master, who, as he approached the bridge, began to doubt whether there would be enough clearance. ‘He then put the engine in full reverse, causing the bow to rise slightly, so that one container just hit the bridge. If the skipper had done nothing, he would have passed the bridge without any problems.’ The margins for the ship are small on the route to Alphen aan den Rijn. The 'Alphenaar' previously had alllided with the Algera Bridge in 2022. Traffic over the bridge between Krimpen and Capelle aan den IJssel was not affected by the accident, but shipping traffic was disrupted until the incident had been investigated. Report with photo: https://capelle.ijsselenlekstreek.nl/112/112/422272/binnenvaartschip-vaart-tegen-algerabrug-schade-valt-mee
Holyhead
As the 'Stena Adventurer' makes her way to Fishguard on Dec 11, Stena Line has now cancelled sailings to/from Holyhead up until the departure from Dublin on the afternoon of Dec 12. Irish Ferries have, so far, also cancelled all sailings on Dec 11. The port has been closed to SHIP traffic since the weekend when its infrastructure was damaged during the storm when the 'Ulysses' destroyed a dolphin. The port’s management has been surveying and addressing the damage since and it was previously indicated that crossings would be able to resume on Dec 10 from 6 p.m. However, underwater inspections in the port last night were hindered by bad weather, causing the resumption of sailings to be further delayed.
Singapore
A 37-year-old forklift driver was hospitalized after a stack of containers toppled onto his vehicle at Singapore’s Pasir Panjang Terminal on Nov 25, 2024, at around 6:40 a.m. at the terminal’s older facility. The accident happened when the forklift, operated by the 37-year-old man, was moving a container. As the forklift reversed, a column of five stacked containers became unstable and collapsed. The top container fell directly onto the forklift’s cabin, tilting it backwards and causing the driver to fall to the ground. The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) was informed about the incident at 6:55 a.m. Emergency responders quickly arrived on-site and transferred the conscious worker to the National University Hospital, where he was reported to be in stable condition. The Malaysian national had suffered lacerations to his head and body. The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has launched an investigation into the incident. It has instructed PSA Singapore, the terminal operator, to suspend all empty container-handling activities at Pasir Panjang Terminal. Along with the suspension, the Ministry ordered a “safety time-out” at the terminal, meaning PSA Singapore must pause its daily operations to review workplace safety protocols and operations. The company has promised to cooperate with the investigation and take the necessary steps to improve safety at the terminal. Report with video: https://www.marineinsight.com/shipping-news/watch-forklift-driver-injured-after-shipping-containers-fall-at-him-in-singapores-pasir-panjang-terminal/?fbclid=IwY2xjawG0XcxleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHZGqc-HKJtR5IOMfF8O27grYxD8YlBPalk9_VZDmkBG-hkBrd-HpzmyE7g_aem_hMlhBEBKg8MPnTefuSUkEA